Bajaj will handle the sales and marketing for Triumph in India. This is part of the agreement the two companies have signed. And it won’t just be for the new mid-capacity motorcycles Bajaj will manufacture for the British bike maker. Triumph also says the current dealer network will stand. At least for the next two years before Bajaj takes over.
The Probiking Route
So, what can we expect at the retail end once the new mid-capacity bikes are launched and Bajaj takes over the distribution? Well, it would be logical to assume that the responsibility of sales and marketing for Triumph bikes within Bajaj will fall onto the Probiking vertical.
Probiking has been selling KTM motorcycles for a while now, after all. So naturally, they understand the premium motorcycle customer quite well. Plus, Probiking has a handsome reach in terms of dealerships even in smaller towns. As things stand today, a select few of these outlets have already started selling the electric Chetak. And it will be taking on the 250cc Husqvarna soon as well.
Too Crowded
But, that also means the showroom floor at a Probiking dealership is set to get even more crowded. Now, it’s not really an issue with KTM, Chetak and Husqvarna sharing the showroom floor. They do have the same parents after all, and not having a clear brand appeal or standing for any of them won’t be such a big deal.
For Triumph, however, which hasn’t entered into an equity partnership with Bajaj, would want to stand out. It would not be okay with its identity being mixed up or diluted with the likes of KTM, Husqvarna or even Bajaj for that matter. Especially, if it isn’t going to retain any showrooms of its own.
The Second Door
Now given that none of the big bike dealers in India are really minting money from their franchises, it doesn’t make sense for Bajaj or Probiking to appoint exclusive dealers for Triumph. It would be more cost-effective to use the existing Probiking network instead. Which, of course, brings us to the ‘crowded showroom floor’ problem.
Now, we haven’t gotten any confirmation from Bajaj on how it intends to approach this, but we decided to present one of our solutions, nonetheless. Bajaj will use the current Probiking dealers. But the Triumph bikes, instead of sharing the same showroom floor, will only just share the same showroom. Which means, the display area will be split by a wall or a clear divider and the Triumph display area will have a separate entrance as well. A second door if you will.
The rest will be shared. The service area, the parts storage, the various functions, and all other overheads. We have seen the PSA group take this approach in Europe with Citroen, Peugeot, and DS all being sold under the same roof but in different display areas, and each having its own ambience and entry.
But what route Bajaj-Triumph finally decide to take will only be clear as we get closer to 2022.
